Neu Caves

It might be a project hailing from LA but Caves’ debut EP is titled ‘Adolescent Dystopia’. You read a lot of interesting takes on city’s celebrity lifestyles and the crime gangs of the 90’s and we’ve also had a stark documentation of the messed-up city through Liars’ ‘Sisterworld’ album. Perhaps the dreamy hub of California isn’t quite what it’s made out to be.

Yet Caves’ sound represents anything but dystopia - beginning dark and ghostly, its 20 minutes are then dominated by hyperactive percussion and new-wave synths; a throbbing pulse of escapism. That might sound a tad like chillwave (please let this be the last time we have to use that word), but ‘Adolescent Dystopia’ is an intelligent work, more in tune with Korallreven’s debut album than the work of some spotty teenager rooted in their bedroom, dreaming of the Indian Ocean. Either way, it’s some distance from the claustrophobia and fear that supposedly defines the LA lifestyle.

Adolescent Dystopia EP by c a v e s